Lies and Omissions
by Faberrittanainthetardis
Summary: Paige gets jealous when she sees Emily and Zoe at the diner together and she ends up saying some things she wouldn't usually say.


Paige sighed to herself as she checked her phone for the hundredth time. She'd been hoping to get a message from Emily to tell her that her plans with Spencer had come to an early end so they were free to hang out for a while. Emily and Paige had initially made plans to watch movies together all day to take a break from the stress of school and A but Emily had told Paige at the last minute that Spencer had pleaded with her to go over and look over colleges with her. Paige had been slightly annoyed by the cancellation but knowing that Emily hated to let her friends down she had told her it was fine, that she should go and spend some time with Spencer.

Tucking her phone back into her pocket, Paige looked up just in time to avoid walking into a pole. She moved to the left to avoid it and cursed herself for not watching where she was going. A glance around told her that she'd walked further than she'd expected to. She spotted a diner across the street and jogged towards it, intending to purchase a cold drink. As she approached the diner however she spotted someone through the window and stopped short.

Paige's brow furrowed in confusion and she blinked a couple of times to make sure that she was really seeing Emily through the window.

Emily was sitting at a table in the diner, a cup of coffee in front of her. Across from her sat a woman Paige didn't recognize but from the way Emily was laughing at something she said it was obvious that they knew each other well. The woman reached out and touched Emily's bare arm and Paige watched with a feeling of sickening jealousy as the strangers thumb stroked over Emily's skin.

As if sensing that she was being watched Emily looked up, her gaze flicking to the window. Paige froze as Emily's eyes locked with her own. She registered the look of shock and guilt on Emily's face and spurred herself into action, forcing herself to move quickly back the way she'd come from. She only managed to walk a few meters before she heard the sound of pounding feet on the pavement behind her. She picked up her pace, the anger, hurt and betrayal she felt spurring her forwards.

"Paige, wait!" Emily grabbed Paige's arm, effectively pulling her to a firm stop and turning her around to face her. Paige quickly yanked her arm free and stumbled back slightly away from Emily. Emily countered it with a step forward worried that Paige would run off again. Slightly breathless and flushed from running after Paige Emily tried to reason with her, "Please, just let me explain. This isn't what it looks like."

"Isn't it?!" Paige dashed angrily at her teary eyes.

Emily glanced around to see that a few people were starting to stare at them. They were obviously making a bit of a commotion. She stepped forward and gripped Paige arm again, tugging her towards a nearby alley.

Paige didn't argue against the movement but she did pull her arm back as soon as they entered the alleyway.

Emily looked slightly hurt by the action. "Zoe is helping me with a college application, that's all. I just needed help to make myself sound as good as I can."

"That's all?" Paige retorted, her eyes darting to the left and right. "You looked pretty cosy in the diner from where I was standing. Did she have to hold your _hand_ to help you with the college application?"

"It's not like that!"

"If it's not like that why would you lie to me about where you were going?" Paige crossed her arms in front of her, her eyes once again tearing up. She silently cursed herself for showing such weakness when she was so angry. "Why would you blow me off and then tell me you were working on college applications with Spencer? That doesn't exactly scream innocence Em!"

Emily opened and closed her mouth, not entirely sure how to answer that. Paige was right, Emily had outright lied to her about where she was going and who she would be with, there was no excuse for that.

"Yeah," Paige breathed out when she noticed the guilty expression on Emily's face," That's what I thought."

"Paige, she's just a friend!"

"Oh so she's your friend now?" Paige was vaguely aware that she sounded hysterical but she couldn't bring herself to stop. Even the idea of Emily betraying her was too much for her to handle.

"_What_?" Emily was utterly confused by the statement.

"You said she was just helping you with your college application," Paige stated accusingly, "But now she's your _friend_?"

"You're being ridiculous!" For the first time irritation crept into Emily's voice, "Do you really think that I would…" She paused and shook her head, trying to work out exactly what Paige was silently accusing her of, "That I would CHEAT on you?!"

"Well it wouldn't be the first time I've caught you getting too close to someone when you're _supposedly_ with me!" Paige practically yelled, the betrayal she felt overriding her usually sound reasoning. Realizing what she'd said, her hand flew to her mouth and she stared at Emily with wide eyes. She hadn't meant to come out with that, she would never usually say anything so hurtful to Emily.

Emily too appeared shocked by what Paige had said, both by the fact that she would say something like that to her and the fact that the statement suggested that she'd seen what had happened all those months ago. Emily had no idea that Paige had witnessed her encounter with Nate.

"Nate…" Emily murmured her expression darkening as she thought back to her encounters with him.

Paige swallowed heavily and backed up slightly as Emily turned her gaze down to the ground, "I-I'm sorry." Without another word Paige turned on her heel and rushed out of the alley. Turning onto the street she broke into a sprint, trying to get away as fast as possible.

Emily meanwhile kept her gaze trained on the floor as tears stung at the back of her eyes.

**XXXXX**

Paige sighed softly as she stared down at her feet in the pool. After sulking around her house for a while she'd decided to go and hang out at the school pool though she couldn't bring herself to actually get into the pool. She'd settled with sitting on the edge with her feet in the water as she mulled over her predicament. What she'd said was completely out of line, she couldn't use the fact that she'd been hurt and angry as some kind of excuse for her behaviour. She should never have said what she had to Emily.

Paige sighed and tugged the sleeves of her light blue sharks jacket over her hands. She'd really messed things up this time.

A loud bang echoed around the large room and Paige jumped, startled from her thoughts. She looked up from the pool and turned her eyes to the door, half expecting a hooded figure to come charging into the room. Paige placed her hand on the floor, ready to push herself up and to her feet should the need to run or fight arise. Her muscles coiled in anticipation and she felt her heart rate speed up, the quick beat pumping loudly in her ears. Emily walked around the corner and Paige allowed herself to relax slightly.

"I thought I would find you here." Emily said as she walked closer to Paige. She gestured to the space next to her. "Do you mind?"

"No." Paige shook her head quickly.

Emily took a seat next to Paige at the side of the pool, crossing her legs in front of her. They fell into a slightly tense silence for a minute or so before Emily spoke up.

"I'm sorry that I lied to you."

Paige looked across at Emily, struggling to keep her expression neutral. "Why did you?"

"It's not what you think," Emily said quietly, meeting Paige's stare. "There's nothing going on with me and Zoe, we're just friends. I lied because there's something I didn't want you to know."

Paige swallowed heavily, preparing herself for the worst. "What is it?"

"Zoe isn't just helping me with my college application," Emily answered nervously. "She's helping me with something else too."

"Emily, just tell me." Paige said in a slightly shaky voice. "Please."

"I was trying to find a way to tell you that I'm going away again in the summer," Emily admitted quickly, not wanting to say it at all yet unwilling to make Paige suffer by dragging it out anymore. "I'm going to volunteer again. I didn't know how to tell you that I'd be away for so long."

"There's…there's really nothing going on between the two of you?"

"No."

"Does she know that?" Paige asked, recalling the way Zoe had reached out and squeezed Emily's arm.

"I don't know," Emily answered honestly, "But I'm not interested in anyone else Paige, only you."

Paige was silent for a moment, her gaze dropping back to the pool. "About what I said…I didn't mean to bring him up. I wasn't thinking when I said it."

Emily nodded even though Paige wasn't looking at her. "I didn't know you knew about that, that you saw what happened."

"I came over with takeout." Paige said softly. "I saw you on the doorstep…" she shuddered slightly at the mental image of Emily and Nate kissing on the doorstep. It was even more repulsive now that she knew that he'd been out to get Emily from the start.

Emily too felt slightly sickened by the thought of kissing the man who had killed Maya, who probably would have killed Paige if he hadn't been stopped, who had _almost_ killed Caleb. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Don't be sorry," Paige shook her head and looked up at Emily, "It's in the past. That's where at should have stayed, I should never have…"

"It's okay." Emily interrupted.

"I'm sorry." Paige said softly.

"It's okay." Emily repeated, shifting closer to Paige. Tentatively reaching out she gripped her hand. "Let's just agree not to keep secrets from each other and forget about it okay? Can we do that?"

"Yes." Paige nodded, a small smile tugging at her lips. She leaned close to Emily and kissed her firmly. "We can do that."

THE END.


End file.
